BBC Learning English
Words in the News
17th May 2010
Jewish disturbances over graves
Members of Jerusalem's conservative Jewish community closed the main road through the
city while protesting about very old graves being moved to allow a hospital emergency room
to be built. Paul Wood reports:
Burning rubbish skips blocked the way for traffic through Mea Sherim, the Ultra-Orthodox
Jewish religious neighbourhood of Jerusalem, overnight. The disturbances were small-scale
but briefly closed the main road through the city as well. Israeli police made a few arrests and
also deployed a water cannon but for the most part they pulled back.
The Ultra-Orthodox were protesting over a decision by the Israeli government to build a new
hospital casualty room on the site of some ancient graves. Archaeologists say the bones
might well be pagan but the Orthodox say they are Jewish and the graves are being
desecrated.
The protest seems to be over, the demonstrators accepting that the hospital project will now
go ahead. Members of the Orthodox community did however deny reports that they had put a
curse on the Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. Reports in the Israeli press said that
the curse in question wasn't designed to inflict mortal injury but, rather, would only invoke
enough divine wrath to "chop off the hands" of the involved in disturbing the graves.
Paul Wood, BBC News, Jerusalem
Words in the News © British Broadcasting Corporation 2010
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Vocabulary and definitions
rubbish skips very large containers for waste or things that are no longer
wanted or needed
Ultra-Orthodox very conservative or strict
deployed a water cannon used a device which sends out a powerful stream of water
and is often used to scatter large groups of people
pulled back didn't advance or attack
casualty room area of a hospital which deals with accident or emergency
injuries
the bones might well be pagan the remains of the dead people buried there could be of
people who lived in a time before modern organised
religions existed
the graves are being desecrated the places where dead bodies are put are being not treated
properly or with enough respect
put a curse on used magic words to bring bad luck to someone
to inflict mortal injury to kill people
invoke enough divine wrath make God or a god very angry
More on this story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/8685657.stm
Read and listen to the story and the vocabulary online:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/wordsinthenews/2010/05/100517_witn_israel.shtml
Words in the News © British Broadcasting Corporation 2010
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